TWENTY FIVE Years. . . . . . .

It’s not often that I could tell you what I was doing on an exact day twenty five years prior.

But today I can.


I was getting married … to the great love of my life.

Yes, today is Lee’s and my twenty fifth wedding anniversary. A milestone indeed!

We were not youngsters when we took the plunge. We’d both been around the block, so to speak, and had been married once before. Given our previous experiences, we were by no means impulsive in our decision to get married. In fact, we’d been together in a committed relationship for over three years before we finally decided to make the final more “permanent” step. And even then, I think we were both more than a little nervous!

But look how well it all turned out. . .here we are, twenty five years later, as much in love and dare I say, even more committed to each other than we were in those early years of our relationship. I don’t know how many couples can say that, but I’m certainly glad that we are among those who can.

Today, as I recall that day twenty five years ago, there are certain memories that remain fresh in my mind, some poignant and some downright laughable (well, I should say they’re laughable now. . .maybe they weren’t at the time).

And as I take my little mental trip down memory lane today, I thought I’d share just a few of these memorable snippets with you. . . . . . .

Neither Lee nor I were regular churchgoers back then (nor now), so we didn’t have a church of our choice within which to get married. Yet, we didn’t just want a civil service, so his parents asked their pastor if he would perform our marriage ceremony in our back yard.

That summer preceding our October wedding, Lee and I worked long and hard in our back yard, planting a new perimeter garden of multi-colored annuals, weeding and watering it daily, adding new flowers as some of the old ones died out. By the end of the summer our little garden looked quite lovely, if I do say so myself!

But as early October approached here in northern Utah and the chill starting creeping in at night, we began to watch the weather forecast every evening, worried that an early frost would render our flowers withered and wilted before our wedding day. Thankfully, we were spared an early frost that year, and our flower garden backdrop was as colorful and cheerful as we could ever have hoped.

For our wedding music, we invited a friend to play the guitar and sing a couple of songs of our choice. The songs were, Evergreen, and Longer Than. . . . . even now, the lyrics and music of both these songs touch my heart.

Our ceremony included a favorite section from The Prophet by Kahil Gibran.

Love one another but make not a bondage of love;

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone;

Even as the strings of the lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

And stand together yet not too near together

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oat tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow

But let there be spaces in your togetherness

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

And Lee and I participated in the writing of our own simple but special vows:

I promise to love and respect you.

I promise not to take you for granted.

I promise to express my feelings openly, and to encourage you to do the same.

I promise to maintain my sense of humor.

I promise to remain committed to our growing relationship, and to make every effort to work through conflicts as they arise.

Like many couples, we’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but I think I can honestly say, as I re-read these vows that we made to each other twenty five years ago, that we’ve done pretty well at honoring them. And for that, I’m proud of us both.

I’m embarrassed to admit, as I write this blog entry, that I never finished putting our Wedding Album together! I bought a lovely photo/memories album way back then, and although I did put photos in it, I never completed my plans for making it into a memory album. I guess there’s still time!

On this, the twenty fifth year anniversary of Lee’s and my wedding, I do feel motivated once again to complete that album/memory book. And when I do, there are a few more special memories that I intend to include in it, like these:

• My one and only sister coming from Kansas to be my Maid of Honor, and Lee’s longest time and best friend coming from California to be Best Man
  
  
• Lee’s favorite aunt and uncle from New York City flying out to Salt Lake to attend our wedding
  
  
• My sister noticing the terrible state that my fingernails were in the afternoon just before our wedding, and offering to give me a manicure!(I’ve always been and continue to be to this day, very neglectful of my fingernails)
  
  
• Our quirky caterer (a moonlighting would-be chef) nipping on scotch the entire time he was preparing our wedding refreshments, and ending up overbaking his “famous” liver pate, rendering it inedible
  
  
• Our sweet dogs at the time, Lucky and Mutt Mutt, having to experience a kennel for the very first time, during our at-home wedding and subsequent honeymoon
  
  
• Our vacation-honeymoon in Cannon Beach, Oregon. . . our first visit to the area (We’ve now been back twice again, and it continues to be one of our favorite places to spend time. . .even during chilly October!)

The ensuing twenty five years have been filled with so very many more special moments and memories. We have worked, traveled, enjoyed the company of family and friends, nurtured long lasting friendships and developed new ones, loved (and lost) a number of very special canine companions, laughed, cried, and faced numerous challenges together.

Throughout all of this, I think we have grown and emerged stronger individually and have become even more committed as a couple.

Today, the commemoration of our twenty fifth year of marriage, is indeed a special day to us. Thank you for sharing in it.

Until we meet again. . .. . I (We) wish you love.

For the LOVE of DOGS: Part 1 . . . . . . .

It’s no secret to those of you who know me, or who have been following my Blog, that I’m a “dog person”. I love animals of all kinds (well, perhaps with a few exceptions), but I’m particularly fond of dogs.

Throughout most of my adulthood, I’ve always had one or two dogs. And in all honesty, I can’t imagine my life without a dog! I’ve often commented to friends over the years that having dogs adds another dimension to one’s life. Of course, I recognize that having dogs is not the same as having children. But for my husband Lee and me, our dogs have always been an integral part of our lives, and we consider them members of our family. To us, they are indeed very much like children.

So, on that introductory note, I’m dedicating today’s Blog post to DOGS and those who LOVE them. This will be the first of several related posts on this topic, which I’m entitling, “For the LOVE of DOGS . . . .”

Although one of Lee’s and my current “passions” is greyhound adoption, and we currently have two wonderful greyhounds, we haven’t always been greyhound owners. In fact our first two dogs were mixed breed dogs that came into our lives rather accidentally.


Lucky was a Gordon Setter and Black Lab mix, whose owner was one of Lee’s co-workers. As it turns out, the co-worker was moving to a place where he could no longer have a dog, and was looking for a new home for Lucky. So, Lee and I decided to meet her.

It was love at first sight, and we were both struck by her friendly and exuberant personality, her wonderful lustrous black fur, and the way she ran like the wind. So, we took her home. Lucky always kept us on our toes . . .she’s the only dog we ever had who took a flying leap and slid along the top of my baby grand piano to get a glimpse out the adjacent window, AND she’s the only dog that I’ve ever had who caught mice! She was a handful, but a delight.

Less than a year later, Lee and I came home after work to find a second dog in our back yard. . . .a timid and rather scraggly-looking terrier mix with long off-white fur, mostly matted! Later we found the place where she had dug her way under the fence into our yard to visit Lucky. She wore no tags, and she had apparently been through some rough treatment, because every time we tried to approach her (Lee more than I), she nearly cowered.

But eventually we managed to befriend this little waif, feed her, give her a bath and trim her matted coat. We couldn’t bring ourselves to take her to the local animal shelter, fearful that she wouldn’t be adopted. SO. . . . .. we named her and decided to keep her. That was a decision we never for one moment regretted over the years Mutt-Mutt was with us. She never got over her timidity with men, but she was one of the most affectionate dogs I’ve ever known. She was a gift.

For 16 years, Lucky and Mutt-Mutt were each others and Lee’s and my sweet and loyal companions. Early in 1997, both dogs passed away within one month of each other. Lucky died on Lee's birthday.

It was shortly after we lost Lucky and Mutt-Mutt that we adopted our first two ex-racing greyhounds.

Having grown up in Abilene, Kansas (home of the National Greyhound Association), I was somewhat familiar with greyhounds, but only from a distance. And Lee and I had talked about the possibility of adopting an ex-racing greyhound. So we started doing some online research about greyhound adoption in Utah.

We found out about a greyhound adoption group in southern Utah (then the only greyhound adoption group in the state), and contacted them to inquire about the availability of ex-racing greyhounds for placement. And one month later, having successfully completed the adoption “application process”, we were making the 5 hour trip from Salt Lake City to Kanab, Utah to pick up our first two greyhounds, Cody and Cassie.

Cassie was a beautiful brindle girl. She was a small and very shy greyhound whom we loved dearly, but who had a number of mysterious but serious health issues over the short time that we had her.

A little over a year after we brought her home, she succumbed to a bizarre illness. (We never did have a final diagnosis.)

Cody was all black, with a white chest and four white-tipped paws. Weighing in at around 87 lbs., he was the largest dog we’d ever had, and it took a little while for us to get used to his size! But he was one of the quietest, most gentle dogs I’ve ever known (except around cats!).

We called Cody our “gentle giant”. Cody was with us for 8 years, until he developed bone cancer and passed away a few months later. He was almost 10.

We adopted Ride (racing name: Emotional Ride) in 1999, shortly after Cassie’s passing.

This is a photo of Ride, not long after we adopted her. She was around 3 years old.

(I'd forgotten how dark her face was way back then . . .she hadn't started to turn gray yet!)

At first, we were a little nervous about how Cody would adjust to sharing the house again with another grey.

But mellow fellow that he was, Cody did fine, and it didn’t take long before he and Ride were best friends, which they remained until Cody’s passing in 2004.

Ride was our only greyhound for a couple of years. Both Lee and I were so saddened by the loss of Cody, we weren’t sure we were ready to attach to yet another greyhound right away, so we thought we’d wait a while to decide.

I was recently retired from my job by then, and since I was home all day, Ride and I became inseparable. She LOVED to take jaunts in the car with me, and I would often take her with me for short errands when the weather was nice.

Around November 2006, Lee and I decided that we were ready to adopt another greyhound, and as fate would have it . . . along came Harley!

It so happened that right about the time Lee and I decided to seek out another greyhound, Harley was “returned” to a local greyhound adoption group, where we know the kennel owner. Harley had been placed in an adoptive home a year before, but unfortunately the placement hadn’t worked out as well as expected. And when Harley was returned to the adoption group, he was not in very good shape physically OR emotionally, so he needed quite a bit of tender loving care and attention.

Once we brought Harley home, it was a difficult couple of months, in that Harley had moderate to severe separation anxiety, and somewhat aggressive food behavior. Thankfully, with a lot of patience, love, and consistency, Harley is now well-adjusted and happy as the newest member of our family.

And this beautiful fawn boy with amber eyes has turned out to be another one of the greyt joys of our lives.

Although it took Ride a while to warm up to Harley, they have become good companions to each other. And coincidentally, even though they are 7 years apart in age, their birthdays are only one day apart! Ride will turn 13 on March 28th and Harley will turn 6 on March 27th.

I am so grateful to have dogs in my life. Not only have our dogs always provided Lee and me with unconditional love, they have also brought us joy and laughter.

Our dogs help prevent Lee and me from being TOO introspective, TOO self-absorbed, and TOO serious. And, they provide us with special memories and “Kodak moments” that have helped to inspire us in our own creative endeavors.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for my next Blog post, “For the LOVE of DOGS: Part 2”, in which I will focus on how our greyhounds and dogs in general have provided inspiration for my handmade cards, scrapbook layouts, and other paper creations.

Holiday Musings . . . . . .

When Lee and I first met years ago, both of us had been single for a while, and neither of us had more than one or two Christmas tree decorations among our household "stuff".

So for the first few years that we were together, we decorated our Christmas tree with red and green "glitter balls" that I'd made by rolling styrofoam balls first in Elmer's Glue, and then in red or green glitter.

Even after we were married, those styrofoam glitter balls served us well for several years as our main Christmas tree decor, but eventually we yearned for some decorations with a little more "class".


So, we began making a conscious effort to build a unique and special collection of Christmas ornaments, year by year, and piece by piece.

Whenever we would travel to a new place or see a new Christmas shop, we kept our eyes peeled for new ornaments for our Christmas tree. And every year, we would add two or three new ornaments to our collection, each one carefully selected.

Now, after nearly 25 years of marriage, we have more Christmas ornaments than we can fit on our medium sized Christmas tree (yes, we eventually bought an "artificial" tree)!

Some of our Christmas tree ornaments were chosen because they represent a place we'd visited or something that we especially love (nature, animals, birds, whimsy, greyhounds!). Others were added to our collection because we simply fell in love with the artist's design or creativity.

And then there's that special group of our Christmas tree ornaments that were gifts from friends or family, or that just remind us of "home."

Now that we have so many ornaments, we don't necessarily put them ALL on the tree every year. Even so, we cherish each and every one, and each one holds a special place in our hearts. Over the years, all these special ornaments have become our "old friends".

I can't say that Lee and I remember specifically what year or from what place every one of our Christmas tree ornaments was obtained, but many of them do indeed bring back special memories of cherished times and moments in our lives.

We're not actively adding to our Christmas tree ornament collection any more, although there are times that I see something during my annual Christmas shopping (or those tempting After-Christmas sales) that I just can't pass up!

On this, my last post of this Christmas season, I wanted to share with you some photos of Lee's and my favorite ornaments from our collection. . . . . . .




We found this little resin greyhound ornament during one of our twice-a-year trips to see my family in Abilene, Kansas.

We always stop into the National Greyhound Hall of Fame to visit the ex-racing greyhound mascots there, and found this little ornament in the gift shop. (As greyhound lovers, we simply had to have a little greyhound ornament for our Christmas tree!)


Back in the mid 80's, I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Philadelphia. Lee joined me and we both saw the Liberty Bell for the first time!

In 1997, Lee and I discovered Sedona, Arizona. We'd never been there before, but we had a chance to trade an unused time-share week there. And now we're hooked on the area!

We go back twice a year . . . .this little southwest style ornament was purchased in Sedona. It reminds us of the warm weather, while we're freezing here in Utah during the winter!

Being a lover of whimsy, I have two of these little "mouse on the moon" ornaments. I actually can't recall where or when I got them, but they've been part of our collection now for quite a number of years.

Yes, I actually did make this little Rudolph counted cross-stitch ornament. I haven't done cross-stitch in years, so this little guy is now around 15 years old, I would guess!

Lee loves just about anything to do with airplanes, and this little wooden airplane ornament was a gift from me to him a couple of years ago. The little propeller and wheels actually move!

This sweet Precious Moments Christmas ornament was a gift a number of years ago from one of my very special long-term friends.

You guessed it! Lee and I purchased this commemorative ornament in 2002 during the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games.

That was, for us, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We didn't attend any of the ticketed events, but we did walk around downtown several times just to experience the ambience and see the street displays. It was SO much fun!

This delicate glass Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is about 6 inches tall, and it was one of our very first ornaments purchased after Lee's and my "glitter ball" era. I remember paying $15.00 (!!!) for this little guy, in the early 80's, in Keystone, Colorado. Yes, it WAS love at first sight . . . . .but I would never pay that much for an ornament again!

I'm particularly fond of folk Santas and whimsical Santas . . . .and this one is a purchase from last September, during one of our trips to Sedona.

This little straw-hat Santa is another newer addition to our collection . . . .can't quite recall where we got him. But he reminds me of the Southwest, so he's on the tree pretty much every year.

And this little ceramic jester/clown struck my fancy many years ago. I think I found him in a local gift shop, and he wasn't intended to be a Christmas tree ornament, but his life's work has been decorating our Christmas tree for at least 15 years.

I believe this ornament might have been one of two or three ornaments that Lee had when we met!

This beautiful brass rocking horse was a gift to Lee and I from my dear sister a number of years ago. The photo doesn't do "him" justice, but there are several layers of embossed metal, for a 3-D effect. I LOVE horses!

And this moose, although I truly have no recollection of where or when we bought him, remains one of our favorite "old friends" from among our Christmas tree ornament collection.

This Christmas ornament holds special meaning for both Lee and me, in that his mother (whom we lost to cancer a year ago) made it herself many years ago, from a kit. She and I shared a love of all kinds of crafting.

This bell (that really rings) is one of my more recent purchases from a local gift store, while I was shopping for other Christmas gifts. I couldn't resist the sparkle!

And here's yet another of my recent purchases (last year or the year before), at an After-Christmas sale in one of my very favorite local novelty and paper shops.

No, this is NOT an ornament . . . . .although I sure do wish I could capture this wonderful greyhound face (of our very special greyhound, Ride) on an ornament!


This photo was taken by Lee in 2005, during the 3 or so minutes that Ride allowed us to leave that Santa hat on her!

I wanted to end my Holiday Musings post with a photo of Ride, who, at age 12 years, will always hold a very special place in Lee's and my hearts.

(Next year, I'll try to include a photo of our other greyhound Harley too, but thus far, we haven't been able to get him to keep either a Santa hat OR reindeer antlers on!)

So, this will be my last Blog entry during the Christmas Season. Tomorrow is another day, and we'll all be looking toward the New Year.

But before the day ends, I want to share with you a lovely quote that I first saw a number of years ago, on a Christmas card. The message particularly resonates for me on Christmas Day.

"Never a Christmas morning,

Never the old year ends,

But someone thinks of someone,

Old days, old times, old friends."

~ Author Unknown ~

Until we meet again . . . . .Wishing you fond thoughts of old days, old friends and old times.

Sedona Scenes and Memories

It took me a little longer than I'd expected to go through my trip snapshots and ready them for posting, but I guess.......as they say, "better late than never!"

I've tried to pick a few photos that are representative of Sedona and the surrounding landscapes, as well as to show you a few shots of my dear hubby, Lee and me.

Both Lee and I love our trips to Sedona, and we never tire of the majestic red rocks and the unique beauty of the desert. For those of you who've never had an opportunity to see Sedona, which is, in my opinion, one of the great TREASURES of the SOUTHWEST, I hope my little travelogue photos will pique your interest!

I've started off (above) with an Uptown Sedona snapshot....this is the "touristy" part of town, with lots and lots of souvenir, jewelry, tee shirt shops, restaurants, etc., etc.

And another Uptown Sedona shot.....you can see that even the concrete is made with the local red dirt. Many of the large rock formations surrounding Sedona are named for their shapes...e.g., Snoopy Rock, Coffee Pot Rock, Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock....and so forth. I'm only beginning to recognize them, after years of traveling to Sedona!




Here's a whimsical pair of pink javelina sculptures in Uptown Sedona. Real javelinas (not pink, of course!) are known to roam the area near Oak Creek Canyon at night. We've even seen them at our little condo by the creek from our balcony! Javelinas are NOT pigs, believe it or not, even though they look like it. Their more scientific name is: collared peccary.





Here I am, having breakfast at the Sedona Airport Cafe.




And here is my husband Lee. He loves to soak up the ambience of the small airport scene in Sedona....having once been (indeed, still is) a small plane enthusiast and licensed pilot.



A typical landscape scene in the countryside around Sedona. I love the gnarly bark of these little cedar (I think!) trees.





And here's one of the many cactus plants around....I'm certainly no expert on desert plants, but I think this is a prickly pear cactus.....you see prickly pear jelly in a lot of the shops around town.




My husband tells me this is a ocotillo cactus. It looks pretty innocuous from a distance, but when you're up close to it, you can see it has inch long thorns! All these desert plants have to protect themselves, I guess.




Moi, soaking up some of the local landscape ambience. That's a Sedona tee-shirt I'm wearing....can you tell I'm fond of horses?



This is a scene from another of Sedona's attractions, the Tlaquepaque Shopping Village....it's a self contained outdoor shopping area that's been in Sedona as long as I can remember. It's nestled down along Oak Creek (which runs through Sedona) and was built to replicate a little town in Mexico by the same name. There are lots of unique shops and galleries, as well as restaurants in Tlaquepaque. Note the cobblestone pavement.




Here's one of several bronze statues in Tlaquepaque.








Me, in Tlaquepaque.




Hubby Lee, in Tlaquepaque. (See the cute bronze frog in the background?)



This was the scene just off the lower balcony of our condo time share at Arroyo Roble Resort (http://www.arroyoroble.com/) in Oak Creek Canyon. It was SO relaxing just to sit outdoors and listen to the rippling of the creek. Of course, this time of year, the cicadas were also singing from dawn to dark. (Growing up in Kansas, I'd never heard of cicadas...I used to call them locusts.) The Arizona cicadas seem to LOVE the huge old sycamore trees that line the banks of the creek.

You can click on the above (or any) photo to see it larger, and actually get a glimpse of the creek....I'll bet you'll ALMOST be able to hear the rippling of the water and the singing of the hundreds (or thousands?) of cicadas!





Lee, on the edge of Oak Creek.




And me, also on Oak Creek.




This gives you some idea of how HUGE some of the old sycamore trees are in the area. That's a sycamore tree on the right (Lee's left) and a cottonwood tree on the left. I understand that sycamore trees can live well over 100 years.

The above shot was taken in Crescent Moon Ranch State Park, near the Red Rock Crossing along Oak Creek, where many a photo have been taken of Sedona's most familiar natural icon, Cathedral Rock.




And here's my humble shot of Cathedral Rock......just taken across the pathway in the park, NOT from Red Rock Crossing.

I'm NO photographer (as you can tell by the fact that the sky in this last photo is "blown out"), but nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed these snapshots. I have certainly enjoyed being able to share them!